Humidity
by knittingknots
Summary: Post Manga. It's a hot and sticky New Moon night in late June. How do InuYasha and Kagome cope with the weather?


_I do not own InuYasha nor any characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Humidity**

Kagome stepped out on the veranda, and watched the heat lightning in the distance.

It was a hot and sticky evening, and her red and white garments hung heavy on her skin. The lightning lit up the sky, but was so far away there was no thunder. Idly, she took her fan out of her waistband and opened it up. The air was still and heavy. The breeze from the fan did almost nothing to cool her down. Another flash of lightning lit up the clouds.

"Maybe the rain will reach us. That might do something to break the heat for a little while," she said softly.

"Keh," said her companion, sitting in a corner of the dimly lit room. "Just make it stickier."

She sighed, and dropped the door mat, and walked back into the house. "It's too hot for all these clothes," she said, and removed the jacket she was wearing, tossed it into a basket. Her inner kosode clung to her skin. "I'm going to have to wash everything tomorrow."

Her companion said nothing from where he sat in the shadows. He had taken off his suikan and loosened the neck of his kosode. His long dark hair hung limply down his shoulders as he watched her strip off her red hakama and toss it into the basket as well. She idly rolled the long length of her hair into a bun. Moving to a cabinet, she rummaged in a box until she found a long stick and with it she skewered her hair in place.

"Feel better?" he asked.

" A little," she replied as she went and sat next to him. She reached for a lock of his hair. "How are you doing?"

"Good as I can do on a New Moon," InuYasha grumbled. His skin glistened damply in the lamplight.

She twirled the lock of his hair around her finger. "I could braid your hair and get it off your back. You wouldn't be so hot."

He shook his head, but didn't meet her eyes.

Kagome let go of the piece of hair. "At least I know we should be left alone tonight. Shippou's off to learn more Kitsune magic, and Miroku's still pretty battered since the accident." She reached for her fan.

"Maybe next time he'll remember that getting on a horse after too much sake's not a good idea," he said. He shifted his hands over the scabbard of the sword propped on his shoulder.

"I sort of suspect that if he hadn't been so bruised up by the fall, Sango would have added another bruise or two herself for what he did," Kagome said.

InuYasha snorted. Neither of them said anything for a moment. Kagome unfolded her fan, and waved it listlessly. "If you want me to stay up and watch with you, InuYasha, you're going to have to talk to me."

He tilted his head back against the wall. "It's too hot."

Suddenly, she got up, grabbed a bowl and a cup off the shelf, picked up a folded cloth from the cabinet, and went to the water bucket and poured some in. Feeling his eyes on her, she walked back and sat near him.

"My mother told me that this is how her mother stayed cooler in June," she explained. She dipped the cloth in the water, and then wrung it out. She wiped her face and neck with the cool water, then took the cup, and poured some of the water on her head, using the cloth to help direct it across her scalp. Taking her fan, she waved it, and let the little breeze work with the water.

"Does it help?" he asked.

"Some," she replied. Kagome loosened the neckline of her kosode, exposing the tops of her shoulders and the valley between her breasts, dipped the cloth again. She tilted her head up, exposing the length of her neck, and ran the cloth from under her chin downwards and across her shoulders. It glistened wetly in the lamplight. A small trickle of water ran between her breasts, moving down and out of sight. She reached for the fan, but InuYasha's hand covered hers.

"Let me," he said. She nodded.

He placed his sword down next to him, then got up on his knees, and began to move the fan. She rotated her head this way and that, eyes closed, letting the gentle air current cool her down a bit. A small smile touched his lips. He pushed the neckline of her kosode further down her arms, then took the cloth from her hand, rewet it, and let the water trickle down from her shoulder and across the swell of her breast. Gently, lightly, he let the wet cloth follow the water trail, until his hand and the cloth rested on the bottom of her breast, cupping it lightly. Her nipple grew hard with the sensation of the cool cloth and the breeze the fan generated.

"Umm, InuYasha," she murmured as he repeated the process on the other breast. He dropped the cloth back into the bowl, and reached for her obi. With a strong tug, he loosened the knot

She opened her eyes. "What are you up to?" she asked.

"You took care of me last new moon when that youkai attacked," he said, pulling open her kosode. "Let me take care of you this one." He urged her backwards.

She let him guide her to the floor, one strong arm cupped behind her neck and a playful smirk on his lips. His black hair swirled around his now human ears, falling forward. Once again she thought how beautiful he was in his new moon colors, especially now, since he wasn't frowning or injured. She smiled up at him, and touched his cheek. His smirk turned into a real smile. Turning his head for a moment, he rewet the cloth, let it drip across her body from the center of her chest to her navel. Then gently, he ran the cloth down and across her creamy skin, before fanning her once again.

Kagome took in a deep breath as the fan swept above her skin, closing her eyes once again. He chuckled. She could hear him rewet the cloth. This time, he ran the cloth over and between her thighs. When the cool air hit her, her eyes flew open to see laughing violet eyes just above hers.

"That's enough bath-time," she said, grabbing the fan out of his hand. "Time for you to dry me off." Wrapping her hands around his neck, under the cascade of midnight black hair, she pulled him down into a wet and heated kiss.


End file.
